Inversion

sábado, 19 de agosto de 2023 16:39

Inversion means changing the word order in (an affirmative) sentence (especially the order of SUBJECT and
VERB).
Two types of inversion:
• Subject-Verb
• Subject-Auxiliary (=operator)

Subject-Verb: the main VERB comes before the subject in affirmative statements + fronted elements:
adjuncts of place (direction).

An old woman sits on the park bench. →

On the parck bench SITS an old woman.

Postponed elements
Here / There Here / There + verb + noun
Here comes the bus
There are the keys I thought I had lost
If the subject is a personal pronoun, there is no inversion:
Here he comes now
First / Next / Again / Then First / Next / Again / Then + verb + noun
Then came a man carrying a knife.
Again was the man following me.
Adverbials of Place Her father stood in the doorway
In the doorway stood her father

Sam's house is around the corner

Around the corner is Sam's house

The bus went up the hill, creaking and groaning

Up the hill went the bus, creaking and groaning
Adverbials of Direction (Along, away, back, down, in, off, out, up) with
(or movement) intransitive verbs (come, fly, run, appear, jump, march,
go). Found in narrative, to mark a change in events.

Out went the lights.

Back came a messenger with the answer.
The door opened and in came the doctor.
A strong wind started blowing and away blew my hat.

Subject-Auxiliary: (in declarative affirmative senteces) the SUBJECT is preceded by the auxiliary verb /
fronted elements: negative adverbs / restrictive expressions.

We have never seen such generosity. →

Never have we seen such generosity.

TIME RELATIONS NEGATIVE/RESTRICTIVE ELEMENT OBSERVATIONS
Frequency Adverbs never / seldom / rarely / hardly ever
Seldom do we see such an amazing
display of dance.
Correlative pairs (time) no sooner… than // scarcely/hardly… when Inversion in the 1st part (main clause)
Hardly had I got into bed when the Tense in the main cl.: past perfect
telephone rang.
Phrases / Clauses with not once / not until / not for one moment Not + phrase / clause -- inversion in
NOT / not since the main cl.
Not until I saw John, did I really believe he Not + Adv. Time
was safe.
Phrases / Clauses with only after… / only when… / only by… Only + phrase / clause -- inversion in
ONLY Only when she apologises will I speak to the main cl.
her again.
RESTRICTIVE little / nowhere / in vain Mental verbs: revise, understand, know.
meaning Little did I realise that one day Michael Have no idea = little do I know
would become famous.
Nowhere else will you spend such a good
time.
In vain did he persuade her to stop
smoking.
General only + phrase / clause Only + phrase / clause -- inversion in the main cl.
Emphasis Only in this way would John earn enough
money to survive.
not + phrase Not + O.D
Not a word has she written since the Not + phrase -- inversion in the main cl.
exam started.
no constructions: under no circumstances /
(in) no way / at no time
Under no circumstances are passengers
permitted to open the door themselves.
At no time did they actually break the
rules of the game.
Other (coordinator: addition) not only… but also Inversion in the 1st clause.
constructions Not only does Mark work at the post Correlative conjunction.
office but he also works at the grocery
store.
(positive statement): so
She likes fish and so do I. Inversion comes after the 1st negative statement.
(negative statement): neither / nor
I do not want to go, and neither does
Tom.
The secretary is not attending the
meeting, nor is her boss.
Conditional (1st type cond.) SHOULD… Inversion in the conditional clause.
Clauses Should you need more information, In negative clauses with inversion, we do not use
please telephone our main office. contracted forms.
(2nd type cond.) WERE + subject + to +
verb If I were you = Were I you
 Were the talks to fail, it would be a
serious setback.
(3rd type cond.) HAD + subject + past X had not it X
participle
Had I been there, this problem wouldn't
have happened.
Clause of So + adjective … that-clause Inversion with the verb "be" as lexical: So / Such…
Result So delicious was the food that we ate + BE (Simple Present or Simple Past) + subject
every last bite.
Such + be … that-clause
Such is the popularity of the play that the
theatre is likely to be full every night.